Portable house



(No Medel.) 2 sheets-sheen 2.

B. LEE.l Portable House. e

No. 231,593. Patented Aug. 24,1880.

N.PETERS. PHOTOALIIHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON n C UNTTED STATES PATENT EEieE0 EARL LEE, 0E CORONA, NEW YORK.

PORTABLE HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,593, dated August 24, 1880,

Application led May, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Corona, in the county of Queens and State ot' New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Houses; and I hereby de clare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, (in two sheets,) making a part ot' this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in houses i'or use in camping out in the woods and elsewhere; and its object is to construct the house in such a manner that it will be very light, and at the same time very strong and rmly united together, and maybe easily transported and readily put together without the aid of nails or screws or similar appliances, and will be comparatively inexpensive.

.The invention consists, first, in the general construction and arrangement of the parts, as hereinafter particularly described, whereby a complete building is obtainedwhich can be .puts up very easily and quickly without the use ot' nails, screws, or similar appliances;

buckles, so that4 the building` shall be very light, and at the same time very strong and firmly connected in its several parts 5 thirdly,in the improved means i'or connecting the trussed loorsupporting beams to the posts, so that the same can be slipped into and out of position very readily and quickly; and, fourthly, in the novel colnbinations of parts whereby the several objects above mentioned are attained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents an isometrical perspective view ot' a portable house with my improvements, parts thereof being broken away to show more clearly its construction; Fig. 2, a sectional elevation of a portion of one of the corner posts and the sills, showing the Inode of` connecting the siding and posts and the posts and sills; Fig. 3, a plan of portions of the door-beams, showing the mode of connecting the same to the posts; Fig. 4, a longitudinal vertical section of the building, taken through its center; Fig. V5, an end elevation of the frame; and FiO. 6, a transverse section, showing the Aconstruction of the roof'.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the several gures, Figs. l and 4 being drawn on a scale of one-fourth of an inch to a foot and the remaining figures on a scale or' three inches to a foot.

The said drawings represent a house ten and one-half feet wide by eighteen feet long, which I consider to be a convenient size for ordinary purposes, but it can `be. made larger or smaller, if desired.

A A represent the sills, which are about two by three inches, and which support-the.

posts B B'. The corner-posts B are two inches square and the intermediate posts B' are one and one-fourth 4 by two inches and placed about eleven inches apart.

The sills are grooved, as shown in Fig. 2, to receive tongues'c on the lower ends of the posts, and each ot' the posts is grooved lengthwise to receive the edges of the siding C. The siding, and also the rooting C', is made from three-eighths-inch board, and at the upper and lower ends of each .piece are cleats b to prevent their warping.

D D are the cave-plates, and E the ridge, each of which is about two by three inches. rIhe plates D D are grooved ou the under side to receive tongues formed on the upper ends ot' the posts B', and the ridge E is grooved to receive the ends of the rooting-boards C.

Cross-sections of the plates and ridge are shown in Fig. 6. l

F represents the rafters, which are about one and one-fourth by two inches, and are grooved lengthwise to `receive the edges of the rooting-boards C.

G G represent the door-beams, which are about one inch by two and one-fourth inches. The said beams G, which support the lower floor, are supported by the sills, their ends being let into mortises in the same, and the beams Gr', which support the second floor, are connected with the posts B B by means oi' a dovetailed metal casting, d d', (shown in Figs. 3 and 6,) so that the said bea-ms can be placed in and taken out of position by simply inserting the dovetailed portion d (which is secured on the end of the beam) into the socket d t which is secured to the post) when placing the beams in position, and withdrawing the same in takin g the house apart.

' Hoor and in beams J on the upper oor to keep them from rising. One or more additional transverse beams may be employed, so that the ooring can be cut into shorter lengths, it' desired.

By means of these constructions the parts are connected by tongue-and-groove connections, and no nails or screws are required in putting the building together.

The oorbeams are trussed by means of wires m m', which are tightened over beams y y', running transversely across the centers of the beams and mortised at. intervals to receive the edges of the beams G', as shown in Fig. 4, so that the said beams y can be placed between the floor-beams and the wires m m', and then turned edge upward to tighten up'the wires.

\ The ridge is trussed, as shown in Fig. 4, by

means of the wire n, passed under the ends of the posts a .r and tightened up by a turnbuckle, 'n'.

The building is braced by means of wires tightened up by turn-buckles.

In Fig.` 5 and partly in Fig. 2 is shown the 'mode ot` bracing the corner-posts and end sills, 0 o being wires attached to a ring, o', the upper ends of the said wires being connected to rings or staples secured to the posts at their braced by means of wires r, tightened up by turn-buckles r', said Wires being secured, respectively, to the ridge andA each of the eavespla-tes, and running at an angle from the perpendicular,- as shown, so as to prevent any end movement of the ridge.

The end rafters are braced as shown at u u in Figs. l and 5.

N represents a step-ladder, by which access is had to the second tloor, and which is also used when 'putting up the house. This ladder is composed of the two side pieces, s s, and the steps t, the said steps slipping into grooves provided in the side pieces, so that the ladder can be taken apart when desired.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In a portable house, the combination of the sills A A', posts'B B', cave-plates D, ridge E, and rafters F, each provided with grooves to receive the siding and rooting, respectively, with the siding C and rooting-boards C', the several parts being constructed and arranged substantially as described, and the Whole being` braced by means of wires and turn-buckles, 'substantially as set forth, so as to dispense with the use ot' screws and bolts.

2. In combination with the end sill, A', and posts B B, the wires 0, ring rings or staples o2 and 03, and turn-buckles q, as and for thevpurpose set forth.

3. In combination with the metal castinh in two parts, d d', the former secured to the post B' and the latter secured upon `the end ot the beam G', the truss-wires m', beams y', and tloorin I, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combinatiomin a portable honse,with the cornerposts B, end sills and side sills', A A', ridge-plate E, and cave-plates D, of the bracing-wires 0, p, and r, each provided with turn-buckles, as and forthe purpose set forth.

EARL LEE. Witnesses:

SANFORD H. STEELE, JOHN S. THORNTON. 

